Field Journal 7: Reproductive Ecology and Evolution

Date- 4/23/2021
Start time- 2:00
End time- 3:32
Location- Redstone campus and golf course
Weather- 54 degrees F, partly cloudy, 17 mph Western wind
Habitat- fields, patches of trees, buildings, retention pond

Territorial selection was seen at the retention pond and the feeder. At the retention pond we saw a Mallard and two Canada Geese. The Mallard was preening on a rock away from the two Geese. The two species of birds seemed to keep their distance from one another, possibly marking their territory locations. At the feeder, there were several different species which were able to share the food at the feeder and keep their distance from one another. They took turns flying from the feeder back to the cover of bushes. This may be a behavior that is done to ensure that they will not get attacked at the feeder by other aggressive birds or animals. It seems that they use the bushes as a safe spot to keep an eye out for predators or competition. The species we observed doing this are: the Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and American Robin. The Mourning Doves that we saw seemed to have already been in a couple for the mating season. I observed that one was performing possible display's like bobbing it's head and lifting its wings to look puffier. This was likely a behavior done by the male to try and get the female to select him as a mate if she hadn't already.

Some possible nesting sites could be assumed as we were in an area where there was limited tree patches. The first place that seemed like a good nesting site was the bushes/hedges by the bird feeder. Another spot would be the patches of woods between the golf course and the athletic fields. The hedges would likely be more beneficial for smaller birds which need to hide from bigger predators, like Black-capped Chickadees. The patches of trees between the fields would be more beneficial for bigger birds like Cooper's Hawk which is a good area for food as they are nearby fields that would expose their prey and they don't really need cover as they don't have many predators.

A single Ruby-crowned Kinglet was singing its beautiful and complex song over by the patches of trees at the edge of the golf course This may have been it's call to find mates or defend it's territory. If this were it's territory, it would be a poor place to defend territory as it was away from any birds which makes it less beneficial to put it's energy toward defending it. This may tell us that it is not as fit as the other birds of its species which defend areas with food that have medium competition and a decent supply of food. Over by this area, we also saw a Great Egret flying over. Thinking about their nesting site, they would likely need some medium sized branches to make a nest big enough for their large body. The fields or patches of woods would not be a greatest place to find these branches, however, if necessary, there would likely be enough to scavenge within the patches of forest. A better place for them to look for bigger branches would be a more dense forest like Centennial Woods.

For the sound map, we stopped at a place where several different environments intersected. It was between the golf course, the house with a feeder, hedges, and patches of woods. We heard Mourning Doves, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Ring-billed Gulls, and American Robins. The link to the map is below:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j1Hmbv8c4GPASw-gO5IFSlJ5IYkmVEFy

Julkaistu huhtikuu 24, 2021 05:06 IP. käyttäjältä avilensky